Guy's, bottom line is we ALL want the same thing...a good SIM football game. And I have NO DOUBT that Norbert also wants this. So why not wait until beta before we start criticizing? I mean, I really don't believe any of us understand everything Norbert has told us 100%, at least I know I don't. I know I've been putting my .2 in more than I probably should have been, but I'm just hoping that we can all work together during beta to try and come up with the best possible product. After all, we're all vested in this game to one extent or another, so why not try our best to be part of the solution and work as a team?

I did not think that I was criticizing, just pointing out areas (defense) that I thought were not being given as much attention. I, for one, feel that the game well be vastly improved and may come closer to reflecting true game play. That said, I hear much talk about the offense and not the defense. Teams that have won the NC (SEC) over the last few years, have done so in part becasue of their DEF. Just my thoughts.

I also don't feel I was "criticizing" as much as voicing my opinion that I thought we had gone over this ad nauseum that most coaches preferred the ability to target certain receivers (ie. passing distribution) as opposed to "hoping" our good TE or WR gets the majority of looks. It was one thing that I believe was done right in 1.0 and failed miserably in 2.0 and thought we had all agreed to input it back into 3.0. I guess I was wrong.

Maybe I was criticizing. But I stand by what I said and how I feel. If things that I wanted and thought were going to be a part of the game aren't in it its disappointing to me. I know others that feel likewise.

Posted by bhouska on 1/24/2013 9:17:00 AM (view original):I also don't feel I was "criticizing" as much as voicing my opinion that I thought we had gone over this ad nauseum that most coaches preferred the ability to target certain receivers (ie. passing distribution) as opposed to "hoping" our good TE or WR gets the majority of looks. It was one thing that I believe was done right in 1.0 and failed miserably in 2.0 and thought we had all agreed to input it back into 3.0. I guess I was wrong.

What I've been saying is that pass distribution is in 3.0, just a different form than 1.0. Less direct, but more flexible. I think getting to see how the settings work in beta will tell you more, and I hope then you can see how the pass distribution works and find that it does give you what you want. If it doesn't, then we can talk about it them and see what we can do.

Posted by bhouska on 1/24/2013 9:17:00 AM (view original):I also don't feel I was "criticizing" as much as voicing my opinion that I thought we had gone over this ad nauseum that most coaches preferred the ability to target certain receivers (ie. passing distribution) as opposed to "hoping" our good TE or WR gets the majority of looks. It was one thing that I believe was done right in 1.0 and failed miserably in 2.0 and thought we had all agreed to input it back into 3.0. I guess I was wrong.

What I've been saying is that pass distribution is in 3.0, just a different form than 1.0. Less direct, but more flexible. I think getting to see how the settings work in beta will tell you more, and I hope then you can see how the pass distribution works and find that it does give you what you want. If it doesn't, then we can talk about it them and see what we can do.

Thanks for the input Norbert. I'm optimistic about the update in the fact that you haven't set anything in stone yet. Your flexibility regarding tweaking things on the fly with the forum's help makes me feel that our input will be appreciated and help develop GD 3.0. Many of the coaches here still have a bad taste from the way the last update to 2.0 (me included) was handled and that seems to show through at times. We all want the best game possible. Tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of the update announcement - whatcha got for us?

Posted by bhouska on 1/24/2013 9:17:00 AM (view original):I also don't feel I was "criticizing" as much as voicing my opinion that I thought we had gone over this ad nauseum that most coaches preferred the ability to target certain receivers (ie. passing distribution) as opposed to "hoping" our good TE or WR gets the majority of looks. It was one thing that I believe was done right in 1.0 and failed miserably in 2.0 and thought we had all agreed to input it back into 3.0. I guess I was wrong.

What norbert is saying, from what I have been able to gather, is that its not as simple as picking one guy and giving him a high distribution number. If you do that, no matter what route he is running, you throw the ball to him. In the 3.0, that is too simplistic and they are giving us more control on the types of routes we want to run.

If you look at the playbook section on offensive formations (in this thread), for passing in an offensive formation, you have the ability to pick Very Short, Short, Medium, Long, and Deep pass plays. That is 5 categories of passing in each custom playbook. So, you can setup one playbook where you target your Tight End (By putting lots of percentage in short passes, then setting up the tight end to be in the short area of the field all the time. You can use this game plan as your normal gameplan.

But if you fall behind, you don't want to throw a bunch of short passes any more or necessarily target your TE. This means that in a different game plan (that you have picked to use while you are losing), where you have defined a "DeepWR" role and ranked your WRs in a way that very fast guys are ranked higher, you are not throwing to the tight end now, but instead throwing deeper passes to WRs who are best able to get open deep because of their SPD ratings, to try to get back in the game.

This not only gives you the ability to target your stud TE under normal circumstances, if that is what you want ... I also allows you to target your Fast, Good Hands, Elusive WR in different game situations.

Couple that with the ability to now have 18 different game planning categories (Main, Losing, Winning, Tied, Overtime, and 4 Optionals where you can define points and time for 9 ... Both on offense and defense .. which makes 18 total) and this gives us unprecedented control over who we want to throw passes to ... and to what spot on the field we want to throw them ... all based on game situation and time remaining.

You can create custom Roles that the game does not have in it under a give position (like Blocking FB and Receiving FB, Blocking TE and Receiving TE, etc.). You can then take a formation and create a custom Formation and insert these custom Player Roles. You would then create playbooks that use the formations. You then will use the playbooks to setup your game plans. This allows you to pick who runs the ball on short yardage or normal situations ... who you want to throw to when ahead or behind and whether to throw deep or short ... which back you want to run up the middle or to the outside. The possibilities are almost limitless and do not fall into candy cutter boxes ... if it works as planned, each coach can really set up a unique method to play both on offense and defense.

Posted by bhouska on 1/24/2013 9:17:00 AM (view original):I also don't feel I was "criticizing" as much as voicing my opinion that I thought we had gone over this ad nauseum that most coaches preferred the ability to target certain receivers (ie. passing distribution) as opposed to "hoping" our good TE or WR gets the majority of looks. It was one thing that I believe was done right in 1.0 and failed miserably in 2.0 and thought we had all agreed to input it back into 3.0. I guess I was wrong.

What norbert is saying, from what I have been able to gather, is that its not as simple as picking one guy and giving him a high distribution number. If you do that, no matter what route he is running, you throw the ball to him. In the 3.0, that is too simplistic and they are giving us more control on the types of routes we want to run.

If you look at the playbook section on offensive formations (in this thread), for passing in an offensive formation, you have the ability to pick Very Short, Short, Medium, Long, and Deep pass plays. That is 5 categories of passing in each custom playbook. So, you can setup one playbook where you target your Tight End (By putting lots of percentage in short passes, then setting up the tight end to be in the short area of the field all the time. You can use this game plan as your normal gameplan.

But if you fall behind, you don't want to throw a bunch of short passes any more or necessarily target your TE. This means that in a different game plan (that you have picked to use while you are losing), where you have defined a "DeepWR" role and ranked your WRs in a way that very fast guys are ranked higher, you are not throwing to the tight end now, but instead throwing deeper passes to WRs who are best able to get open deep because of their SPD ratings, to try to get back in the game.

This not only gives you the ability to target your stud TE under normal circumstances, if that is what you want ... I also allows you to target your Fast, Good Hands, Elusive WR in different game situations.

Couple that with the ability to now have 18 different game planning categories (Main, Losing, Winning, Tied, Overtime, and 4 Optionals where you can define points and time for 9 ... Both on offense and defense .. which makes 18 total) and this gives us unprecedented control over who we want to throw passes to ... and to what spot on the field we want to throw them ... all based on game situation and time remaining.

You can create custom Roles that the game does not have in it under a give position (like Blocking FB and Receiving FB, Blocking TE and Receiving TE, etc.). You can then take a formation and create a custom Formation and insert these custom Player Roles. You would then create playbooks that use the formations. You then will use the playbooks to setup your game plans. This allows you to pick who runs the ball on short yardage or normal situations ... who you want to throw to when ahead or behind and whether to throw deep or short ... which back you want to run up the middle or to the outside. The possibilities are almost limitless and do not fall into candy cutter boxes ... if it works as planned, each coach can really set up a unique method to play both on offense and defense.

You explained the update the way I was picturing it in my mind, but even after trying 2-3 times couldn't put it into words. And even if I could have I wouldn't have explained it near as well as you did. Thank you Mr. hughesjr, job well done!

So, will we have the ability to spy or play man in certain coverages? Can we bring safeties up into the box when playing the run, or allow them to double cover with a cb when facing a high level WR? Can we assign a "lockdown" corner to the num 1 wr? What changes are in store for defense? While all of these offensive changes look great and are exciting, some more defensive information would be welcome. I did read through this thread, and while defense did come up breifly, the topic quickly switched back to offense without really adressing what changes, if any, were made on the defensive side of the ball.